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Conference aims to keep railways central to Australian identity

September 02, 2005

AndrewPiper.thumb.jpgParticipants in the National Railway Heritage Conference later this month will gain a deeper understanding of how railways could continue to play an important role in defining Australia's national identity.

The conference, convened by the Heritage Futures Research Centre (HFRC) at The University of New England, has attracted speakers who can compare Australian and overseas perspectives on the cultural significance of railways.

For example, one of the keynote speakers, Professor Colin Divall from the UK, will point out that the recent opening of the Alice Springs - Darwin line has been yet another "significant marker in the evolution of the Australian nation-state". Professor Divall is Head of the Institute of Railway Studies and Transport History run jointly by the University of York and the British National Railway Museum. "Since the 1850s, railways have helped to form and mark Australia's place in the world and its development as a nation," he says.

Another speaker, Doug Kirkpatrick from Being Australian Pty Ltd, will discuss the effective use of railways in northern India and the American State of New Jersey in promoting and developing social cohesion. He will ask why, in Australia, railways lack the "sex appeal" of other forms of transport such as cars, boats, trucks or aeroplanes, and will argue that this sort of popular appeal can be generated, "enabling today's railway industry to create wealth for the nation". (For more information on the conference, go to: http://www.une.edu.au/campus/confco/nrhc2005/.)

Dr Andrew Piper from HFRC, the convener of the conference, said: "Until relatively recently, to speak of Australian railway heritage was to speak in terms of the past. A summary of the papers to be given at the conference, however, reveals a new focus: the vital role of railway heritage if railways are to have a future in Australia comparable to that in countries where railway revitalisation is already under way."

Dr Piper (pictured here) said the conference would include discussions of staffing and training issues. "We will talk about how to transmit skills from the old to the young, and especially about how to make the railway industry attractive to the most talented young workers, male and female," he explained.

The National Railway Heritage Conference will be held in Tamworth on 28-30 September. It is timed to coincide with the official opening of the Australian Railway Monument and Rail Museum, newly established at the Werris Creek Railway Station. Conference delegates will travel to Werris Creek by Heritage Rail Motor on Saturday 1 October for the opening ceremony, and participate in a day of railway festivities.


The photograph of Dr Andrew Piper diaplayed here is available at:
http://photodatabase.une.edu.au/albums/incoming/2005/staff/Piper%20Andrew.jpg


Media contact: Dr Andrew Piper, Heritage Futures Research Centre, UNE (02) 6773 2764 or Jim Scanlan, Public Relations, UNE (02) 6773 3049.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at September 2, 2005 03:09 PM